1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the maneuvering of a conventional hay bale feeder or ring, typically used to feed cattle, and more specifically to a device and method for (a) lifting and transporting the feeder by an interaction produced between the device and a conventional round hay bale upon the directed movement of the bale and (b) facilitating the placement of the feeder around the bale.
2. Prior Art
In a typical farming or ranching operation, it is a common practice to feed cattle with conventional round bales of hay weighing up to 1800 pounds because they offer many advantages over the alternative of traditional small square bales. Since the round bales shed water, they can be stored outside on the ground with minimal degradation and their large size significantly reduces the bale replenishment frequency when feeding is in progress. The feeding operation necessitates the placement of a conventional hay bale feeder, well established in the prior art, around the bale to help contain the loose hay and prevent cattle from trampling and wasting it. In general, the feeder has a substantially cylindrical structure that is either circular or multi-sided and includes 3 structural closed rings, either round or linearly segmented, respectively, that are concentric about a common vertical axis. The top and middle rings are connected by a series of either vertical or slanted structural members that form a plurality of openings large enough for cattle to pass their heads through. The middle and bottom rings are spaced apart by connecting structural components. Usually, a sheet metal or a heavy wire mesh circular panel covers the space between the middle and bottom rings. Some conventional hay bale feeders with either circular or multi-sided structures have legs attached to the bottom ring to elevate the feeder off of the ground for corrosion protection. The feeders are approximately 4 feet high, 8 feet in diameter and can weigh in excess of 200 pounds. An example of a prior art conventional hay bale feeder that has a circular structure is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,624 issued Dec. 3, 1974 to Leonard R. Peak. Examples of prior art conventional hay bale feeders that have multi-sided structures were previously manufactured by Priefert Mfg., P.O. Box 1540, 2630 South Jefferson Ave., Mount Pleasant, Tex., 75456-1540 as their model numbers RBF2 and RBFS2.
The size and weight of the round hay bales dictates that their movement and placement be accomplished by a powered vehicle such as a farm tractor, truck, or towed vehicle like a special trailer, each with inherent ability capable of lifting the bale. Numerous vehicular attachments, accessories, mechanisms, implements, and the like have been developed in the past for the sole purpose of lifting and transporting conventional round bales and are well known in the prior art. Most of these bale carriers are attachments that mount to the 3 point hitch on the rear of a farm tractor and usually couple to the bale with either a long spear(s) to pierce the bale near its center axis or a fork with long tines that go under each side of the bale. Other common bale carriers are spear or fork configurations that are mounted to a front end loader on a farm tractor or to the back of a truck. Additionally, special trailers have been developed with spear or fork configurations to transport round bales in the same manner. In the case of a truck or trailer, a powered unit is normally incorporated to provide the required lifting force.
Examples of prior art attachments applicable to tractors are presented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,890,864 issued Apr. 6, 1999 to Willie Davis Sloan; 4,364,700 issued Dec. 21, 1982 to John Arabshian and Paul O. Mittelstaedt; 4,318,653 issued Mar. 9, 1982 to William F. Benefield and Elmer D. Larkin; 4,316,691 issued Feb. 23, 1982 to Joseph B. Kucera; 4,275,985, issued Jun. 30, 1981 to Stanley M. Schremmer; 4,120,405 issued Oct. 17, 1978 to John B. Jones and Robert W. Upton; 3,934,726 issued Jan. 27, 1976 to Leon C. Martin; and Des. 245,984 issued Oct. 4, 1977 to William D. Priefert. Tractor 3 point hitch attachments similar to those associated with U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,120,405 and Des. 245,984 are the most common because they require no extra hydraulic components and/or front end loader and are therefore, considerably less expensive. Examples of prior art attachments applicable to trucks are presented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,135,343 issued Aug. 4, 1992 to Myron O. Wigness; 4,288,191 issued Sep. 8, 1981 to Bobby R. Lynch; and 4,090,616 issued May 23, 1978 to John G. Runyan and James H. Kline. An example of prior art applicable to a towed vehicle is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,143 issued Sep. 7, 1982 to Clofford L. Hedgespeth.
In a typical cattle feeding operation, a farm tractor with attached bale carrier is employed to move a hay bale from a storage location, that is not accessible to cattle, to the feeding location, which is normally in close proximity to the feeder that was used in the previous feeding cycle. The bale is placed on the ground and the tractor is moved away from the bale. The tractor operator then gets off the tractor, walks over to the empty feeder, and lifts up on one side of the feeder until it is stable on its circular side. Next, the operator rolls the feeder over to the bale, properly aligns the feeder to the bale, and then pushes the uppermost side of the feeder down over the bale, resulting in it falling to the ground on its lower portion or base. The bale now resides inside the feeder. The operator then removes the twine, that holds the bale together, while intermingling with the cattle trying to get to the bale. After the twine is removed, the cattle are then permitted to access the bale through the plurality of openings in the feeder. The reason that the bale is placed in a different location from the previous feeding location is that if it is not moved, the continued concentration of cattle around the feeder will result in the surrounding grass getting trampled and possibly destroyed and/or ruts being formed in the ground. This condition is compounded when the ground is wet. Another problem is that old uneaten hay will collect in the bottom of the feeder if the feeder is not moved. Also, note that a farm tractor was used in the above description of a feeding operation because it is the most commonly used, but other vehicles with bale carriers, previously described, could be employed.
There are numerous inherent problems associated with feeding cattle in the above described manner, namely due to the required manual maneuvering of the large heavy feeder. First, the tractor operator has to get off of the tractor and walk over to the feeder, leaving cattle that have gathered free to eat from the unprotected bale. Lifting the heavy feeder up on its side can be very hard, especially for small, old, and/or handicapped people. Rolling the 8 foot high feeder can also be a challenging task if the terrain is uneven, uphill, and/or if it is windy. Tilting the feeder over the bale can be the most difficult task for even taller stronger people because the high feeder center of gravity has to be rotated beyond the feeder's ground pivot point by pushing the feeder from only one side which tends to cause an adverse side rotation of the feeder. The problems associated with the manual handling of the feeder are further multiplied if it is raining, muddy, and/or nighttime. In addition, manual handling of the feeder can be deadly to small calves. If calves are near the bale when the feeder falls from its 8 foot height, they could be hit by the feeder and extensively injured or even killed. Removing the hay bale twine in the presence of cattle trying to access the hay bale poses a significant safety problem to the operator.
To help circumvent the problems involved in the manual maneuvering of the feeder, several prior art devices were developed for use on or with farm tractors to lift and carry both round bales and feeders. While these devices provide for powered lifting and carrying of both the bales and feeders, they all heretofore known suffer from a number of deficiencies and drawbacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,488 issued Apr. 3, 2001 to Leon Wright presents an adapter that attaches to a conventional hay bale feeder which incorporates a receiving cylinder that permits the feeder to be lifted and moved by inserting the spear of a conventional spear bale carrier into the cylinder. The problems associated with this feeder lifting arrangement are: (1) on tractors with limited 3 point hitch lift height, typical of smaller tractors, it is probable that the feeder cannot be lifted high enough to clear large bales due to: the geometry of the 3 point hitch, the close proximity of the feeder to the hitch, and the relatively loose fit between the spear and the receiving cylinder, due to the cylinder having to accommodate different size spears, (2) the adapter can only be used with spear bale carriers, (3) the spear has to be inserted into the adapter's receiving cylinder which can present alignment difficulties and therefore, can be a trying task, (4) the vertical member of the adapter's frame can interfere with the adjacent cattle access openings on some feeders with slanted openings and possibly result in a cow's head being caught in the reduced opening, and (5) in typical feeding practices, using this arrangement requires that the bale be placed at the feeding location and then moving the feeder to the bale, a 2 step process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,314 issued Apr. 4, 2000 to David L. Greene presents a spear bale carrier with a height adjustable hook mechanism on the upper end of the carrier that connects to the top ring on a conventional hay bale feeder to provide feeder lifting when the bale carrier is lifted by a tractor. The carrier also has 2 lower short spears to stabilize the hay bale and a lower pivoting rocker plate to prevent the bottom of the feeder from excessive forward movement. The problems associated with this feeder lifting arrangement are: (1) on tractors with limited 3 point hitch lift height, typical of smaller tractors, it is probable that the feeder cannot be lifted high enough to clear large bales due to the geometry of the 3 point hitch and to the close proximity of the feeder to the hitch, (2) connecting the hook with the top feeder ring could be difficult if the terrain is rough, (3) the lower 2 spears will hit a sheet metal panel connecting the middle ring to the bottom ring on feeders of this type and prevent the hook from connecting to the top feeder ring, unless somehow, the lower 2 spears could be inserted under the feeder's bottom ring (a difficult task) which would require that the adjustable hook be precisely set to the feeder's top ring height, (4) the use of this bale carrier requires the added procurement expense of a redundant bale carrier, since a bale carrier normally already exists in most feeding operations, and (5) in typical feeding practices, using this arrangement requires that the bale be placed at the feeding location and then moving the feeder to the bale, a 2 step process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,098 issued Feb. 9, 1999 to Darrell W. Adams presents a spear bale carrier, with upper hooks that connect to the top ring on a conventional hay bale feeder and a lower curved base to support the bottom of the feeder, which lifts the feeder when the bale carrier is lifted by a tractor. The problems associated with this feeder lifting arrangement are: (1) on tractors with limited 3 point hitch lift height, typical of smaller tractors, it is probable that the feeder cannot be lifted high enough to clear large bales due to the geometry of the 3 point hitch and to the close proximity of the feeder to the hitch, (2) connecting the hooks to the top feeder ring could be difficult or unattainable if the terrain is rough, (3) placing the feeder around a hay bale could be a problem, since the spear could hit or insert into the top of the hay bale before the feeder touches the ground and make hook disengagement difficult, and (4) in typical feeding practices, using this arrangement requires that the bale be placed at the feeding location and then moving the feeder to the bale, a 2 step process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,231 issued May 18, 1982 to James L. Brewer presents an independent feeder adapter that permits a fork bale carrier to interface with or couple to a conventional hay bale feeder, thereby providing a way for lifting and moving the feeder when the bale carrier is lifted by a tractor. This feeder lifting arrangement does not have the limited feeder lifting height deficiency inherent in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,209,488, 6,045,314, and 5,868,098 because the feeder is lifted at a significant distance from the 3 point hitch resulting in a greater feeder lift height. The problems associated with this feeder lifting arrangement are: (1) the adapter can only be used with fork bale carriers, (2) the adapter has to be wider than the fork bale carrier which dictates that the adapter is wider then at least 2 feeder cattle access openings and therefore, not only will it impede cattle access to the openings but could result in serious injury to cattle by their legs or other body parts being caught in the various openings in the structure, (3) the structure is relatively large and complex resulting in higher relative cost, (4) the feeder cannot be manually turned on its side and rolled with the adapter installed on the feeder, and (5) in typical feeding practices, using this arrangement requires that the bale be placed at the feeding location and then moving the feeder to the bale, a 2 step process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,139 issued Nov. 24, 1981 to Elton K. Malish presents a 3 point hitch spear bale carrier that has a relatively long boom with hooks that connect to the top ring of a conventional hay bale feeder and a hydraulic actuator that provides for articulation of both the bale and feeder. As with U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,231, the bale carrier does not have the limited feeder lifting height deficiency for the same reasons. In addition, an even greater lift height is achieved by the articulation provided by the hydraulic actuator. The problems associated with this feeder lifting arrangement are: (1) the significantly higher relative cost due to the carrier's heavy boom structure and hydraulic components, (2) the carrier cannot be used on smaller tractors due to the high torque, created by the weight of the bale and the long boom, which can cause the front of the tractor to lift off of the ground, and (3) in typical feeding practices, using this arrangement requires that the bale be placed at the feeding location and then moving the feeder to the bale, a 2 step process.